These 4 Cars Are Way Cooler Than We Think!

This selection of cars might be overlooked at first glance. They are not special edition road trip warriors, or even cars that reward keen drivers. But dig deeper and we might just be able to churn out reasons why this lineup deserves more thoughtful consideration.

As OneShift previously pointed out in 2015, this is Honda’s Stepwgn, pronounced as “stepwagon”. With a chassis borrowed from the Honda Civic, it spells promise in the handling department. We had to dial down our expectations especially when this is a full-sized MPV weighing almost 1.8 tonnes, but it comes with a couple of neat tricks up its sleeve. Drivers of the Stepwgn had to be extra careful piloting a car nearly 1.7m wide and 4.8m long, but designers eased this worry by integrating a massive blind spot mirror within the left A pillar, projecting the line of sight directly between the front left tyre and kerb.

The Stepwgn’s “Waku Waku Gate” elevates its functional appeal too. The tailgate can be opened through two ways - firstly via the more traditional way from bottom up, and secondly from the help of a vertical hinge that mimics the mechanism of a fridge door.

Lexus IS 250 (2nd generation)

While the 2nd generation Lexus IS was overshadowed by its Germans rivals back in the mid 2000s (namely E90 BMW 3 Series and W204 Mercedes-Benz C-Class), there are a couple of quirky features drivers realised that elevated the IS 250’s overall ownership experience. First up - Lexus did not advertise that the storage box under the centre arm rest area also doubled as a “cooler box”, but it was actually useful enough to keep your drinks cool! This was likely due to the rear air con vents that require cool air to be directed from the front to surround the centre armrest area. Was it by accident? Whatever works!

Have you been caught off guard not winding up your windows after switching off the car? With the IS 250, you were able to control your windows even when the car’s engine is switched off, so long as the doors are still closed. A surprisingly large number of cars at this price range do not come with this function!

While we might often label Skoda as the less mainstream alternative to the wildly popular Volkswagens, we truly believe that Skoda deserves way more attention for all the right reasons. In some ways, Skoda feels more of a “people’s car” than Volkswagen. With the Superb, both the driver and passengers doors are equipped with umbrellas - an understated but extremely useful feature.

Over at the boot, there are configurable plastic shopping dividers secured by velcro that can be deployed if you need to prevent fruits from rolling about. These dividers are removable and can be stowed in a compartment, away from sight too. Some Superbs are even equipped with a portable magnetic torchlight!

With an aesthetic aimed to capture attention, we knew that Citroen C4 Cactus engineers dared to be different and we applaud them for taking the leap of faith. Perhaps the most striking detail on the Cactus will be the “Airbump” feature surrounding the car, designed to prevent dents as you navigate narrow local streets.

On the inside, roof-mounted airbags were engineered to supply more space in the front cabin. And while rear passengers might not appreciate the manually-operated rear windows, it saved at least 11kg - this in itself we’d argue is a feature in an era where we could do with more tactility in a touchscreen-dominant world. Local units came fitted with a gearbox that was not without flaws, but apparently chosen to shave and keep the overall kerb weight at a feather-light 975kg - unheard of in this day and age. We believe that Citroens are built with quirkiness in mind - other models in their range are well worth investigating!

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